This invention relates to an automatic pinspotter machine. More particularly, it relates to the carpet belt for an automatic pinspotter machine.
In one type of automatic pinspotter machine bowling pins struck by the ball may fall on the lane or be driven past the end of the pin deck of the lane toward the rear of the pinsetting machine. Those fallen pins that remain on the pin deck of the lane are swept off the lane by a sweep mechanism. In either case, once past the end of the pin deck the pins lie on a carpet belt which is a band of tough, relatively inflexible material which carries the pins to the pickup mechanism at the rear of the machine. Such a carpet belt will have a hard surface and may be composed of plies or layers of fabric bonded together by a coat of rubber. It may also consist of a single interwoven ply, cords of material, or a combination of both. The carpet belt is mounted on two cylinders to form a continuous endless loop from the end of the pin deck of the bowling lane to the pickup mechanism at the rear of the machine--a distance of approximately three feet. Located directly above the carpet belt are many moving parts of the pinspotter machine. Any foreign objects or loosened parts of the pinspotter machine, e.g., screws, nuts, bolts, or neglected tools that fall onto the carpet belt are carried to the rear of the pinspotter machine to the space between the carpet belt and the metal housing of the pin elevator wheel. If such objects are small enough, they pass through the space and are carried by the carpet around the cylinder and fall beneath the machine where they do no damage. If such foreign objects are not small enough to pass through the space, however, they become partly wedged in the space and cut the carpet belt as it continues to be driven by the cylinders. This cutting is due to the hard and inelastic surface of the carpet belts now being used in this type of pinspotter machine. A torn carpet functions improperly and must either be repaired or replaced. Replacement of the carpet belt requires skilled personnel to dismantle the machine and manually remove the carpet belt. In certain cases when the tear is not severe a temporary repair may be performed on the carpet belt. Whichever remedy is required the task is difficult, time consuming and costly.
Whether or not the carpet belt is torn, it is sometimes necessary to repair the bounce-plate mechanism which is located beneath the carpet belt between the two cyclinders on which the carpet belt is mounted. Before the repair can be made, the difficult and time-consuming task of removing the carpet belt must be effected.
The conventional carpet belts are also subject to sagging, to fraying along their edges, and to separation along the seam where the two ends are joined. The occurrence of any of the foregoing interferes with delivery of the pins to the pickup mechanism and of the ball to the ball return mechanism.